Messing around with more GIS

Last lab we got to mess around with some more GIS (Geographic Information System) software again; this time, however, we got to take a closer look into earthquakes (with the system called “arcgis”) and the type of data that is stored from around the world.  First, we took a look at areas in Southeast Asia (Figure 1) and how many earthquakes occurred in that area.  We took note of how dense populations were near areas containing a high frequency earthquakes; that is, many earthquakes occurred along the Earth’s plates and these plates happened to be right near many coastlines.  Because of this this there was a greater chance of a tsunami that could devastate populated areas.  Additionally, we took a look at the Mediterranean area and found that many earthquakes occurred along mountain ranges (also the location of many the Earth’s plates).  The bottom line of this exercise was to take note how governments and private organizations can help prepare to mitigate the damage of natural disasters.  With this data, these organizations can know where the majority of earthquakes occur and possibly save many lives and prevent excessive damage from occurring.

Figure 1.  Location and magnitude of earthquakes in Southeast Asia and Australia.

Figure 2.  Location and magnitude of earthquakes in the Mediterranean.

After this we analyzed the magnitudes of earthquakes across the globe (Figure 3).  We found that the regions with the strongest earthquakes are the southeast Pacific, Indonesia, and Central America.  We also found that the majority of earthquakes occur along the fault lines that I mentioned earlier.  However, these are several earthquakes (even those of a greater magnitude) that occur away from the fault lines, as well.  This is because, even though larger earthquakes are more likely to occur along fault lines, it does not mean no earthquakes (even large ones) will happen away from them.  With this in mind, organizations should still have emergency plans in place if natural disasters (even unexpected ones) occur.

Figure 3.  Magnitudes of earthquakes across the globe. The larger the blue dot, the greater the magnitude.  Red dots signify earthquake with a magnitude greater than 8.0.

One question we were asked in lab was “How does the information in this lab relate to hazard risk assessment?”  The information we covered in lab is critical in developing hazard risk assessments simply because developing these assessments involves a lot of research and one of many steps involves investigating where past hazards have occurred.  In terms of earthquakes, data from arcgis shows that the majority of earthquakes occur along the Earth’s plates.  The data also shows what areas of the Earth at a higher risk (i.e. LDCs are more likely to get hit and take more damage than MDCs).

Overall, this lab was very helpful in learning more of how the experts have adapted in the use of different technology.  It also helped in learning how they can aid in the mitigating the amount of damage caused by natural disasters.  I look forward to using this technology in class more and continuing to learn about it even more.